Safety razor blade and combination thereof with razor guard



Dc. 14, 1943. S AL 2,336,515

SAFETY RAZOR BLADE AND COMBINATION THEREOF WITH RAZOR GUARD Filed Sept. 14, 1942 INVENTORS. MM @212 M Patented Dec. 14, 1943 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR BLADE AND COMBINATION THEREOF WITH RAZOR GUARD Application September 14, 1942, Serial No. 458,232

6 Claims. (01. 3075) v This invention consists in a novel safety razor blade of the thin flexible type which is adapted to be held and supported in use between the rigid blade-clamping members of a safety razor.

It has been the practice to provide thin safety razor blades, that is to say, blades of .004 to .006 in thickness, with auxiliary sheet metal elements serving as reenforcing elements in stifining the shaving edge of the blade while maintaining the edge in straight condition, reducing blade breakage and increasing flexing resistance under clamping pressure so as to avoid objectionable fluttering of the edge under conditions of less Fig. 5 is a view in-cross-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

than rigid clamping engagement which exists whenthe user desires to increase the eifective edge-exposure of the blade. Such auxiliary elements have been welded or braised to the steel of the blade itself and while successful construction has been made of this type the manufacturing expense has been considerable on account partly of the difficulty of braising to the thin highly tempered stock of the blade.

Among other objects the present invention is designed to provide an improved auxiliary member which may be easily stamped from sheet metal and folded about the blade so as to overlap itself in a convenient location for soldering or welding. As herein shown the auxiliary member is folded about a portion of the blade and united to an overlapping section of itself by welding or otherwise thus leaving the delicate steel of the thin blade in every way unimpaired. This structure presents the advantage in manufacturing that the blade may be completed and lacquered before the auxiliary element is attached to it and that the attaching operation does not impair the previously applied lacquer. If the blade is lacquered after the auxiliary member has been attached the lacquer reduces the resistance and cushion effect by filling the cracks between the blade faces and the auxiliary element.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the fol- Fig. 6 isa fragmentary plan view showing a blade in position upon a guard of a safety razor;

Fig. 7 is a corresponding view of the razor in side elevation; and

Fig. dis a View in cross-section of the complete razor head showing a blade clamped in shaving position.

The blade illustrated herein corresponds substantially in outline to the double-edge Gillette safety razor blade. It has a rectangular body portion of tempered steel .004" to .006" in thickness with its opposite edges l I bevelled for shaving and reentrant notches in its four corners defining elongated unsharpened end portions !2. It is provided with a central longitudinal slot l3 which is widened at the center for the accommodation of the stem of the cap as will presently appear The corner notches provide transverse shoulders in the blade and in each side thereof is provided a rectangular aperture l9 located longitudinally midway between the shoulders and in line with them. The transverse shoulders themselves are limited by inwardly directed shoulders 20.

A flat blank for one of the auxiliary members is shown in Fig. 3 as it may be died out from merging at opposite ends into straps i5 and i6 respectively. The straps are narrower than the body portion l4 and arranged to. be folded inwardly over the shoulders of the blade and when so folded they overlap the apertures it. Th

overlap'is suflicient for a spot weld H to be member underlying the blade. As already stated the auxiliary member may be made of steel, brass or other resilient sheet material. It does not need to possess the edge-holding characteristics of the steel of the blade. The transverse shoulders of the .blade are undercut or limited to a width snugly fitting the width of the straps I5 and I6. Accordingly when the straps are once folded they are held positively in place without danger of slipping.

The auxiliary member may be swaged to impart an inclination to the outer margin of its body portion, forming in effect an inclined flange 21 and to' deflect the inner corners l8 of the body portion upwardly and obliquely so that they stand away from the body H) of the blade. The oblique flange 21 cushions the blade between the clamping members of the razor while the opposed inner edges of the auxiliary elements provide guiding elements for interlocking with the guard member of the razor.

In Figs. 6-8 is shown sumcient of a safety razor for a full understanding of the manner in which our improved blade is used. The razor comprises a handle 26 carrying at its upper end a rectangular guard 2| having a generally convex blade-supporting face and longitudinal guard bars 22 extending below and parallel to the shaving edges ll of the blade. The guard has a central fiat longitudinal rib 23 which is undercut to provide channels in which are received the inner edges of the auxiliary members, these edges being progressively deflected as the blade is pushed endwise into position. The grooves or ways, it will be seen, hold the blade in position upon the guard without requiring anything further. However, the razor is completed by a cap 24 having a concave blade-engaging face which transversely flexes the blade and supports and clamps its shaving edges in co-operation with the guard member. The cap is provided with a central stem 25 which extends down into the barrel of the handle 26 where it is provided with a clamping screw, not shown.

In use the blade is pushed endwise upon the guard member 2|, the leading oblique corners l3 readily finding the ends of the channels in the rib 23 and the inner edges of the auxiliary member following smoothly into the channels. The blade is thus secured and accurately located upon the guard member independently of the cap and is retained in that position before and after use so that it may be conveniently flushed. When the cap is placed upon the guard it may then be drawn down into blade-clamping position as shown in Fig. 8 and the razor is ready for shaving. The inclined spring flange 21 of the auxiliary member is now located substantially opposite to the edge of the cap and, therefore, resists transverse flexing of the blade and tends to hold its edge stiff even when the cap is slightly released as suggested in Fig. 8.

The blank for the auxiliary member is shown in -Fig. 3 as having its arms [5 and I6 unsymmetrically disposed with respect to the body I4 but it will be understood that the blank may be shaped to correspond to the blade with which it is to be used or in accordance with the desired location of the spring flange in the assembled razor. While the invention is herein illustrated as embodied in a double-edged blade it is, of course, applicable with obvious modification to a singleedged blade.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described a preferred embodiment thereof we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A double-edged razor blade comprising a thin resilient body of substantially rectangular outline with reentrant corner recesses forming shoulders and elongated unsharpened end portions and an 5 aperture in the blade midway longitudinally between each pair of said recesses, and auxiliary members of thin sheet metal folded over said shoulders and extending longitudinally across both faces of the blade, overlapping the aper- 10 tures on both sides of the blade and secured in place by Welded connections through the apertures and having longitudinal edges resiliently spaced from the face of the blade.

2. A razor blade comprising a thin resilient body having reentrant notches in both ends, and an auxiliary member of sheet metal with portions folded over the blade in said notches and an elongated body portion held in place thereby and having one edge formed as a longitudinal flange standing obliquely away from the body of the blade.

3. A safety razor blade comprising a thin resilient body having a transverse shoulder at each end and a cutting edge, and an auxiliary element having a body portion with a resilient cushioning flange extending at an angle to said body portion, the latter being provided with straps at each end of less width than itself, said straps being folded over the shoulders of the blade and secured in folded position.

4. A safety razor blade comprising a thin resilient body with transverse shoulders nearer together than the end edges of the blade and an aperture located between them in the blade, and

a sheet metal reenforcing member having a flanged rectangular body in part overlying said aperture and merging at its ends into arms of reduced width which are folded over the shoulders and united through said aperture to the body of the said member.

5. A safety razor blade comprising a thin resilient body having transverse shoulders near each end and a sharp cutting edge. extending between said shoulders, and an auxiliary member of sheet metal folded over said shoulders and having a resilient straight edge portion extending in parallel relation to said cutting edge and spaced slightly therefrom.

6. In a safety razor, the combination with a guard having a central rib with outwardly directed channels therein, of a thin flexible blade provided with flexible supplemental members having converging side portions held at their inner edges in said channels and supporting the body of the blade at a level above said rib when the blade is presented endwise to the razor.

NICHOLAS TESTI. FELIX J. LEWANDO. 

